The display is protected by a new type protective glass for improved durability and scratch resistance. It’s hard to vouch for that so early on, but I’ve definitely dropped it several times this week and failed to damage it.

The phone also has improved water resistance this time around – an IP68 rating, to be precise.

That means you can dunk it in two metres of water for up to 30 minutes safely, although I still wouldn’t make a habit of doing that to anything over the value of £50.

It also resists spills from loads of other liquids too – including coffee, tea, and soda, according to Apple.

Lastly, the phone comes in three colours.

There’s the old Silver and Space Grey options from last year, and a new Gold colour that looks a little rosier in real life compared to the marketing pictures.

The iPhone XS comes in three different colours: Silver, Gold and Space Grey

iPhone XS and XS Max screen – gorgeous HDR visuals

I’ve talked about the size of the screen, but the real improvements are regarding its visual quality.

If you’re coming from anything like an iPhone 8 or older, you’ll be seeing a far sharper picture.

Both phones have pin-sharp displays packed with 458 pixels per inch. Gone are the days when iPhone used to sit far behind Android rivals in terms of screen resolution.

Apple has also added support for various hi-tech video standards, like Dolby Vision and HDR10. The latter is a type of High Dynamic Range, which means HDR-friendly content will have better contrast (brighter whites and darker blacks) on your screen, and will be packed with a wider range of colours.

This is definitely one of the best phones on a screen, easily on par with Samsung’s new Galaxy Note 9. I’d say new Sony Xperia XZ3’s screen is slightly more impressive in terms of visual fidelity, but the iPhone XS Max looks better overall thanks to the half-inch larger panel.

Watching HDR telly from Netflix on the iPhone XS Max is genuinely incredible, and will probably look better than a lot of your living room tellies.

The iPhone XS's Smart HDR feature generally balances exposure quite well – as demonstrated in this photo, where the lens is facing bright and direct sunlight. It's still possible to see detail and colours, even in the shadowy background, and clouds aren't affected by the sunlight

It’s called Smart HDR, and it’s a great way to take quality pics when the lighting in your scene is difficult.

For instance, if you’re snapping a dark subject in the foreground and the sun is shining in the background, Smart HDR could balance that out, rather than leaving the background or foreground over- or under-exposed.

This photo was taken in very low light using Portrait Mode, but appears significantly brighter than the real-world lighting condition. The detail and sharpness is good, although the tips of the ears were missed by the outlining tool, and blurred as a result

But generally, it’s a fantastic tool that takes snaps you’d think were shot on a professional DSLR camera.

Other improvements include better general low-light performance, more effective video stabilisation, and a faster autofocus system.

The iPhone XS has, without a doubt, one of the best cameras available on a smartphone today.

New iPhone UK prices revealed

Here's how much the new 2018 models will cost you in the UK...

iPhone XR (64GB) – £749

iPhone XR (128GB) – £799

iPhone XR (256GB) – £899

iPhone XS (64GB) – £999

iPhone XS (256GB) – £1,149

iPhone XS (512GB) – £1,349

iPhone XS Max (64GB) – £1,099

iPhone XS Max (256GB) – £1,249

iPhone XS Max (512GB) – £1,449

iPhone XS and XS Max performance – faster than ever

Apple’s new phones are kitted out with the new A12 Bionic chip.

Every new iPhone gets an upgraded processor, but the A12 marks a very impressive milestone: the A12 is Apple’s first 7-nanometre chip.

Both the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max have the exact same dual-lens camera system

Apple is also finally adding support for Dual SIM tech (later in autumn). It means you’ll be able to have your regular SIM card in the phone, but also sign up to a second contract (and phone number, of course) using a virtual eSIM on the handset. That’s great for travellers who might want to use a local SIM in destination countries to save money.

Audio is one of the biggest improvements. Normally I’d never mention sound on a phone review (and especially not an iPhone review) because it’s rarely good.

Part of the problem with iPhone sound is that audio has been beamed out of a small section of the bottom of your phone, which makes for a very poor sound stage.

Now audio comes out of the top phone call speaker as well as the bottom of the phone, which is then digitally balanced for accurate stereo sound.

The sound is genuinely very impressive, with the sound stage feeling much wider than the phone itself. The stereo channels are clear and distinctly separate, which makes watching movies on the phone a real treat.

Apple’s Face ID is also faster – that’s the face-unlocking tech that uses infrared light to map out your head.

You can adjust the "bokeh" blur on your Portrait Mode shots after they've been taken, for the first time ever

In my experience, the biggest gains are in low-light conditions – night-time unlocking is now significantly quicker than it was on the iPhone X.

It’s got some niggles, of course. For instance, you still can’t unlock the phone in landscape mode. This was very annoying when I was playing a multiplayer game and accidentally locked the phone, and then had to flip it round to unlock it and resume play.

But Face ID as a feature is seriously impressive, and is much more intuitive and enjoyable than fingerprint unlocking. You can also use Face ID to verify App Store purchase, contactless Apple Pay payments, and even log into some UK bank accounts.

It all comes across as very sci-fi, which is exactly how good tech should feel.

Finally, I was very impressed with Bluetooth connectivity on the phone. My Apple AirPods pair much more quickly (immediately, in fact) to the iPhone XS than they did with the iPhone X.

iPhone: Big vs Small

How iPhone sizes have changed over the years

iPhone (2007) – 3.5 inches

iPhone 3G (2008) – 3.5 inches

iPhone 3GS (2009) – 3.5 inches

iPhone 4 (2010) – 3.5 inches

iPhone 4S (2011) – 3.5 inches

iPhone 5 (2012) – 4 inches

iPhone 5S (2013) – 4 inches

iPhone 5C (2013) – 4 inches

iPhone 6 (2014) – 4.7 inches

iPhone 6+ (2014) – 5.5 inches

iPhone 6S (2015) – 4.7 inches

iPhone 6S+ (2015) – 5.5 inches

iPhone SE (2016) – 4 inches

iPhone 7 (2016) – 4.7 inches

iPhone 7+ (2016) – 5.5 inches

iPhone 8 (2017) – 4.7 inches

iPhone 8+ (2017) – 5.5 inches

iPhone X (2017) – 5.8 inches

iPhone XS (2018) – 5.8 inches

iPhone XR (2018) – 6.1 inches

iPhone XS Max (2018) – 6.5 inches

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Sure, it’s expensive at a starting price of £999 – it certainly doesn’t cost Apple that to make.

But sometimes we forget just how indispensable phones are to us now. They’re probably the most used electrical item, and perhaps object, in our lives. We spend hours every day looking for it.

And if someone told you that you’d never own a smartphone again, many of you would say you’ll be willing to pay much more than £999 to get one.

You can definitely get by using a £250 phone (and there are plenty of great options for less than that). But if you’re someone who wants zero faff and a phone that will just work, it’s impossible not to recommend the iPhone XS.

Apple has taken everything that’s good about the iPhone X, and improved on it.

It’s not perfect, but it’s the best phone you can buy today.

★★★★★

The Sun reviewed the iPhone XS Max (512GB, Space Grey) with a retail price of £1,449. Buyers should note: Apple is releasing a cheaper version of both phones called the iPhone XR in mid-October, which will cost £749. It will have a less impressive screen, camera and build quality, but will use the same processor and come in six different colours. The quality of the iPhone-shot images in this review are reduced by our website, and don't accurately reflect the genuine calibre of iPhone photography.